SHARPER IMAGE DRY CLEANERS RUINED MY $4000 WEDDING DRESS!
Manager's response: "You can come in and pay for your dress or we are giving it away to Saint Vincent De Paul"
Absolutely appalling customer service. This dry cleaner ruined my $4000 dress. 20 pearl beads on my gown are now melted with holes in them, the applique that finished the back details of the dress is completely missing, there are 10 large feature diamantes that are now completely missing with bent prongs.
How did it happen?
I spoke with the boutique who sold me the gown, they said this has only happened once before when the dry cleaner ignored the care instructions and used a temperature that was way too high.
The most interesting part of the story...
When I discovered that the dress had been damaged, I was speaking with the lovely staff member Ada.
She was really sympathetic and told me that she'd call the factory and find the missing beads as they'd probably still be in the machine. She said that the factory would fix it for free and I was really pleased with the customer service and how understanding she was.
My partner was waiting in the car for me, I got in and told him how happy I was and relieved that they were going to fix it. Never once during my talk with Ada did I say or even hint that I wasn't going to pay for the dry cleaning of the dress. I was happy to pay, all I wanted is for the damage to be repaired - which I don't think is unreasonable.
That's when I got a call from the manager Darren... I said to my partner, "oh it's the manager, probably calling to apologise". How wrong I was. He must have gotten himself worked up before he called me and thought I had just been in the store abusing the staff and threatening to not pay. I can't imagine why anyone would do this otherwise - there's no other explanation as to why he'd call a customer infuriated and abuse them.
Darren: When you put your dress in, I told you we would not be responsible for any beads missing! So your options are, you can come in and pay for it and pick it up or we will keep it!
Me: I was just in the store speaking with Ada, she said the factory might still have the beads and can get the dress repaired.
Darren: No, they won't have the beads and we are not responsible, I called you and told you that after you left the dress here. If you don't pay for it, we are going to give it away to Saint Vincent De Pauls!! (I never received this alleged call)
Me: Did you speak to Ada? I just left the store and she said that you were going to fix it. Did you really just threaten to give my dress away to an op shop? This is the worst customer service I have ever received!
Darren: No I did not! No I did not! Don't put words in my mouth!
Me: Yes you did, you just said it. All I want is for my dress to be fixed. I never said I wasn't going to pay.
Darren: Well those are your options. We aren't taking any responsibility!!
Me: Well I'll go in there now and pay for the dress and get it fixed somewhere else. Bye.
****At this point I was worried that I wouldn't get my dress back - so we turned the car around and went straight back into the store***
When I got in there, Ada was on the phone with the factory and they told her they'd be happy to fix the dress and would do it for free. It would just take a week.
I was in tears after the phone call with Darren and said "oh that's ok, I'm just going to pay for it now and take it. The manager said he was going to give it away to an op shop"
Poor Ada was in shock. She said she would call him and see what's going on, that's when she got a call from Darren who was obviously angry and abusing her too. He told her that if I wanted the dress repaired, even though the factory was doing it for free, then I'd have to pay him for it.
So I just paid for the cleaning and left. When I got home I discovered that many of the beads had been melted. My partner and I live around the corner from Sharper Image which is why we always took our clothes there for alterations and dry cleaning. NEVER again will I use their services.
Sharper Image Dry Cleaning Reviews
SHARPER IMAGE DRY CLEANERS RUINED MY $4000 WEDDING DRESS!
Manager's response: "You can come in and pay for your dress or we are giving it away to Saint Vincent De Paul"
Absolutely appalling customer service. This dry cleaner ruined my $4000 dress. 20 pearl beads on my gown are now melted with holes in them, the applique that finished the back details of the dress is completely missing, there are 10 large feature diamantes that are now completely missing with bent prongs.
How did it happen?
I spoke with the boutique who sold me the gown, they said this has only happened once before when the dry cleaner ignored the care instructions and used a temperature that was way too high.
The most interesting part of the story...
When I discovered that the dress had been damaged, I was speaking with the lovely staff member Ada.
She was really sympathetic and told me that she'd call the factory and find the missing beads as they'd probably still be in the machine. She said that the factory would fix it for free and I was really pleased with the customer service and how understanding she was.
My partner was waiting in the car for me, I got in and told him how happy I was and relieved that they were going to fix it. Never once during my talk with Ada did I say or even hint that I wasn't going to pay for the dry cleaning of the dress. I was happy to pay, all I wanted is for the damage to be repaired - which I don't think is unreasonable.
That's when I got a call from the manager Darren... I said to my partner, "oh it's the manager, probably calling to apologise". How wrong I was. He must have gotten himself worked up before he called me and thought I had just been in the store abusing the staff and threatening to not pay. I can't imagine why anyone would do this otherwise - there's no other explanation as to why he'd call a customer infuriated and abuse them.
Darren: When you put your dress in, I told you we would not be responsible for any beads missing! So your options are, you can come in and pay for it and pick it up or we will keep it!
Me: I was just in the store speaking with Ada, she said the factory might still have the beads and can get the dress repaired.
Darren: No, they won't have the beads and we are not responsible, I called you and told you that after you left the dress here. If you don't pay for it, we are going to give it away to Saint Vincent De Pauls!! (I never received this alleged call)
Me: Did you speak to Ada? I just left the store and she said that you were going to fix it. Did you really just threaten to give my dress away to an op shop? This is the worst customer service I have ever received!
Darren: No I did not! No I did not! Don't put words in my mouth!
Me: Yes you did, you just said it. All I want is for my dress to be fixed. I never said I wasn't going to pay.
Darren: Well those are your options. We aren't taking any responsibility!!
Me: Well I'll go in there now and pay for the dress and get it fixed somewhere else. Bye.
****At this point I was worried that I wouldn't get my dress back - so we turned the car around and went straight back into the store***
When I got in there, Ada was on the phone with the factory and they told her they'd be happy to fix the dress and would do it for free. It would just take a week.
I was in tears after the phone call with Darren and said "oh that's ok, I'm just going to pay for it now and take it. The manager said he was going to give it away to an op shop"
Poor Ada was in shock. She said she would call him and see what's going on, that's when she got a call from Darren who was obviously angry and abusing her too. He told her that if I wanted the dress repaired, even though the factory was doing it for free, then I'd have to pay him for it.
So I just paid for the cleaning and left. When I got home I discovered that many of the beads had been melted. My partner and I live around the corner from Sharper Image which is why we always took our clothes there for alterations and dry cleaning. NEVER again will I use their services.
I am in shock. I do not recommend this business.